London: With leading law firms from over 50 countries having opened their offices here, London has become a world city in providing the best legal services in every facet of commercial and business dealings.

With the advent of the free market economy, the British government has thrown open legal services to major countries to ensure that foreign investment and development go hand in hand. Major law firms have opened their branches in nearly 40 countries, including China and Japan.

A delegation of lawyers of the All-India Bar Association — representing various associations and State Bar Councils — led by its chairman Adish C. Aggarwala saw for itself the tremendous growth made by the law firms over the years. Under the existing system in the United Kingdom, only barristers (similar to advocates in India) appear in the courts and solicitors (senior advocates) give advice to clients and engage barristers.

The Bar leaders met key personalities in the London legal market and observed the working of the U.K. legal system. Law Society president Fiona Woolf explained how the government liberalised the legal services in the country and how London became the gateway to other nations in providing quality legal advice notwithstanding the high litigation cost.

India has to learn a lot from the U.K. in speedy disposal of cases. The entire court proceedings aretape-recorded and a lawyer can get a transcript of his arguments. Courts are empowered to impose costs for unnecessary adjournments. It takes a maximum of two years for a case to attain finality, though a majority of the cases will be disposed of in eight-12 months and only a few will reach the appeal stage.

No PIL plea

Unlike in India, which has pioneered the concept of public interest litigation, no PIL petition can be filed in a U.K. court. Only a victim of wrongdoing can initiate proceedings.

Another significant feature is that a client can lodge a complaint with the General Council of the Bar of England and Wales (similar to the Bar Council of India) against a barrister for not presenting his case properly. He can also sue the barrister separately for damages. Whether such complaints have been properly disposed of or not can be examined by another ombudsman.

Corruption unheard of

During an interaction with a senior judge (equivalent to a sessions judge in India), the delegation was told that corruption in the U.K. judiciary was unheard of in the last 100 years. One or two frivolous complaints without substantial evidence may come up but there is no cause for worry on this issue, he says. Capital punishment has been abolished. For heinous crimes like rape and murder, the maximum punishment is life imprisonment; it may be for 25-30 years and for gruesome murders, it will be for the entire life of the offender.

Meticulous examination

The delegation watched proceedings in a criminal trial, during which an accused was cross-examined meticulously. As per the royal tradition, both barristers and judges wear wigs.

Though there is a provision for appeal, from the sessions court to the Royal Courts of Justice, invariably the appellate court will not alter the conviction but may consider only the justification or otherwise of the period of sentence. Even this appeal will be disposed of within six months and thereafter the accused has liberty to move the House of Lords.With several legislation enacted recently, a perfect criminal justice delivery system has been put in place to ensure a free, fair and speedy trial.

During a visit to the House of Lords, Lord (Swaraj) Paul gave a reception to the delegation and gave a brief account of its functions. The delegation watched proceedings when a bill on legal reforms was debated.

Later the members of the delegation held a token demonstration in front of the Royal Courts of Justice to condemn terrorism haunting several countries, in particular the U.K. and India. It received tremendous response from the locals.

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